iPads may hit Qantas airline flight decks

The airline are reportedly looking into using the touchscreen tablets to replace the ring-binder flight manuals that are commonplace within airplane cockpits. The benefits of an easily searchable digital copy of the manuals are obvious; you’re not going to end up with a dog-eared iPad are you? Though long-haul flights may encounter battery problems.

If the move gets the go-ahead, it’ll be interesting to see if it will affect passenger’s allowances to use mobile devices in-flight. Currently, using connected devices on a flight is a security issue, as it can potentially call radio interference, dangerous as it disturbs communications between the aircraft and ground crews.